QT T5's on icecap ballast

818reefer

New member
hey guys any one here running 24 inch T5's off of icecap660. If so have you had any problems with the bulb poping.. I was on the SPS fourm and I was reading that they will pop due to them being overdriven.
 
I am running 4x 24inch on each ballast that thred is making me nervous they have been running for a month they say it will pop with in 3-4 months
 
You mentioned "each ballast," so does that mean that you are running eight bulbs on two ballasts? Would it be possible to wire all eight bulbs on a single ballast? I know a lot of folks run four 48" bulbs on a single 660, but I guess you'll have less control in terms of dusk to dawn type of lighting arrangement.
 
the main thing is cooling!! if you have the bulbs and ballast kept cool with fans then they'll last much much longer and stay in the right spectrum of color, they may burn a little more whiter but that is normal. with fans they'll last 10-11 months easy
 
I have 2 24" bulbs on an icecap 660 and a 24" and 36" on a second 660 and they have been running fine for 6 months. I use one 4" icecap fan to pull air past the endcaps and have never had a problem. The bulbs get so hot you can't touch them. I use ATI bulbs. I did have some problems at first with bad connections on the icecap plugs arching, but some di-electric grease fixed the problem.
 
Use a fan...

The bulb will pop if its not cooled. When I first set up my tank, I had 4 T5 on a 660 IceCap ballast and I did not have a fan to cool them. 3 weeks after seting them up 1 pop. Called IceCap and they told me that I need to be cooling them while they are on. So now with a 4" fan, they still get hot but nothin compared to how they get without a fan.

I have not changed my bulbs for 11 months now and they are still proving good enough light for my corals.

HTH
 
My tank is 30x30 I had 2 fans is the back of the canopy draging air through the lights, I pulled the canopy out a little so air can come out. I felt that 2 fans were not enough so I just added 2 more so now I have a total of 4x 4.5inch fans but none of them are exhausting out. The air just escapes out the front of the canopy I think I shoud be good.. I felt the end caps they are still warm but thats probably normal...what do you guys think
 
If the endcaps are only slightly warm you probably have enough cooling. Just keep air blowing across the bulb ends and you'll be fine. It is the ends that are critical to be cooled. As mentioned 4 bulbs max on a IC660 regardless of length. Don't skimp on the endcaps either, spend the extra $ and get the waterproof ones.
 
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